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The Death Penalty

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Almost all nations in the world either have the death sentence or have had it at one time. It was used in most cases to punish those who broke the laws or standards that were expected of them. Since the death penalty wastes tax money, is inhumane, and is largely unnecessary it should be abolished in every state across the United States. The use of the death penalty puts the United States in the same category as countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia which are two of the world’s worst human rights violators (Friedman 34). Lauri Friedman quotes, “Executions simply inject more violence into an already hostile American society.” The cost of the Death Penalty is highly expensive. A case to put someone in jail costs on average two million three hundred thousand dollars on average while to put an inmate in jail for forty years cost on average seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars (Friedman 11). In Texas the death penalty cost three times more money than putting an inmate in the highest security level in a jail for forty years (4). It also takes time for a death penalty case to be processed and a convict to be sentenced to the death penalty. Then it takes more time for the state to act and to administer the death penalty to people on death row. On average it takes ten to twenty years to execute a convicted criminal on death row (Friedman 11). Costs could be lowered by shortening the appeal process but this would only increase the risk of executing an innocent person. Use of the Death Penalty is inhumane. Most Americans view the death penalty as taking a life for taking a life. Lauri Friedman quotes Pat Bane when he states, “In the aftermath of a murder, a family has two things to deal with-a crime and a death. The death pen... ... middle of paper ... ...nion: The Death Penalty Violates Human Dignity.” The Death Penalty. Samuel Bremer, Ed. Detroit: Thomson, 2006. 24-34. Print. “Death Penalty Arguments.” Prodeathpenalty.com. 3 May 2001. Ornellaspaper. 6 Feb 2011. Web. “Facts about the Death Penalty.” Deathpenaltyinfo.org. 26 Jan 2011. Death Penalty Information Center. 31 Jan 2011. Web. Friedman, Lauri. The Death Penalty. San Diego: Reference Point, 2007. Print. Overall, Michael. “Study: Death Sentences Reach Record Low: Economics Play a Part, an Attorney Who Hopes the Ultimate Penalty Will be Abolished Says.” Tulsa World (Tulsa) 16 Jan 2010. Pasquerella, Lynn. “The Death Penalty in the United States.” The Study Circle Resource Center of Topsfield Foundation. July 1991. Topsfield Foundation. 03 Feb 2011. Web. “Statistics of Death Penalty.” Antideathpenalty.org. 01 Feb 2011. Anti-Death Penalty. 03 Feb 2011. Web.
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